Christians appeal for peace in Assam-Nagaland border

The church leaders further appealed all concerned parties to respect human lives.

(Photo: oneindia)

Guwahati:  The North East India Christian Council (NEICC) has appealed to all to shun violence and work for peace in Assam-Nagaland border, where 12 people were killed in violence two weeks ago.

A joint peace meeting of Christian churches in the region under the aegis of the NEICC at Shillong expressed their "deep pain and anguish at the human suffering" as an outcome of the conflict on the inter-state boundary.

The meeting held yesterday jointly appealed to all sections of both sides to shun violence, stop inhuman killings, and maintain peace, a statement from the NEICC said.

The church leaders further appealed all concerned parties to respect human lives and to follow the universal policy of "Live and Let Live", it said.

They also appealed all concerned to find a solution for the rehabilitation of displaced communities and called for a return to the status quo of affairs with humane consideration till more permanent solutions are reach amicably.
On August 12, nine persons were killed in firing and arson at Uriamghat area of Assam's Golaghat district by unidentified people from across Nagaland and over 200 houses torched forcing 10,000 people to flee their homes.

Source: New Indian Express

Detained asylum seekers sue Australian government

Lead plaintiff is six-year-old whose health has deteriorated.

Australia:  Asylum-seekers detained on Christmas Island are suing the Australian government over alleged inadequate health care.

A class action case has been filed in the Victoria Supreme Court, with a six-year-old girl as the leading plaintiff.

A lawyer for the group said asylum-seekers' health was being "severely compromised" by being in detention.

The move comes amid mounting debate over Australia's immigration policies, including the detention of children.

All those who arrive in Australia by boat seeking asylum are placed in offshore detention camps, currently on Christmas Island (an Australian territory) and in the Pacific nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru.

Living conditions in these camps - and the length of time people spend in them - have been strongly criticised by rights groups and the UN.

Children are also detained, in a policy described by church leaders recently as "state-sanctioned child abuse".

A national human rights inquiry into the treatment of children in immigration detention is continuing, while the government says it is working to reduce the number of detained children.

Compensation sought

The legal case will allege that the government is failing in its duty of care to the asylum seekers.

The lead plaintiff, identified only as AS, is a young girl who has been in detention for a year.

"Since that time she has an ongoing dental infection, allergies, separation anxiety, bed wetting, has developed a stammer and is refusing food. She has been assessed by a child psychiatrist as having Post Traumatic Stress disorder," law firm Maurice Blackburn said in a statement.

But the firm said the case was being brought on behalf of all asylum-seekers detained on Christmas Island in the past three years who "have suffered an injury or exacerbation of injury due to the government's failure to provide adequate health care".

The case is seeking compensation for injuries as well as better medical care, the law firm said.

Australia says its tough asylum policies are aimed at stopping people making the perilous journey by boat. Scores of people have died in recent years after their boats sank.

Last week, Immigration Minister Scott Morrison announced plans to release some children from detention - but those held in the Christmas Island and Nauru camps are not eligible.

Addressing the human rights inquiry, he also described the fact that children were being detained as "a consequence of the policies that more broadly have been effective in securing Australia's borders... and stopping children dying at sea".

In late July, however, Australia's top human rights official, Gillian Triggs, said the situation at the Christmas Island detention centre had "significantly deteriorated", leaving people "plagued by despair".

She voiced grave concern over "a spike" in self-harm cases and for the welfare of babies and young children.

Responding to Prof Triggs' remarks, a spokesperson for Mr Morrison told the BBC that health care services on Christmas Island were "commensurate with those available in the Australian community".

Source: BBC

China's church demolitions continue unabated

Close-up report on recent demolition and clash with parishioners.

China:  At 8:30 a.m. on Thursday August 21, police vehicles, vans and excavators entered Gao’ao Village (in Beibaixiang Township, Leqing City, Zhejiang Province) and stood sentry at several intersections. More than 100 uniformed police officers stood at church entrances with shields and truncheons to prevent anyone from entering.

The demolition force started at the foot of the mountain and entered a bamboo forest. They flattened the bamboo while excavating a road, gradually moving toward the church. When people tried to enter the church, police blocked the entrance and beat them.

They also used gas, causing headaches and dizziness. Some people were bloodied, some were beaten to the ground. One was chased by a dozen police and beaten into unconsciousness. The police dragged his body into a police vehicle and drove toward the police station.

Auxiliary police said: "We have the ability to illegally demolish, go and report us."

Source: Boxun News

Gaza erupts in joy over Israel-Palestine truce

After deadliest violence in years, both sides call 'unlimited' ceasefire.

Palestinians hail the truce which they see as a victory.

Palestinian territories:  Celebrations erupted in Gaza on Tuesday as a long-term ceasefire agreed by Israel and the Palestinians began, ending 50 days of the deadliest violence in a decade.

The agreement, effective since 1600 GMT, involves an immediate halt to the violence in Gaza that broke out on July 8 and has claimed the lives of 2,143 Palestinians and 69 on the Israeli side.

The Palestinians said it was a "permanent" truce, while a senior Israeli official described it as "unconditional and unlimited in time".

Washington gave its full backing to the deal. "We strongly support today's ceasefire agreement," Secretary of State John Kerry said, calling "on all parties to fully and completely comply with its terms."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon voiced hope that the ceasefire in Gaza will set the stage for talks on a final Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

In Gaza itself thousands flooded onto the streets in celebration, some firing joyfully into the air, among them gunmen from Hamas, AFP correspondents said.

Chanting and clapping they surged through the battered streets, bellowing songs of victory as a man swathed in a huge green Hamas flag threw handfuls of sweets into the air.

Mosques used their loudspeakers to broadcast celebratory chants of "God is greatest" as the war-torn enclave hailed the apparent end to seven weeks of violence that has seen a quarter of the territory's 1.8 million people flee their homes.

"Thank God the war is ended. I can't believe I'm still alive with my kids!" 32-year-old Maha Khaled told AFP.

"It was a very harsh war. I never thought that we would see peace at the end." Cars jammed the streets, their horns honking incessantly, as beaming women and children flashed victory signs and crowds of young men bounced up and down on rooftops, waving flags.

As night fell, there was no letup in the celebrations as the rhythmic thud of drums beat a celebratory pulse and a performer breathed fire to entertain the ecstatic crowd.

"Today Gaza showed the world that it is resisting and that it is stronger than Israel," said Tamer al-Madqa, 23.

But there was no sign of celebration in Israel as citizens absorbed the news of two people killed when mortar shells hit a kibbutz in the south.

Ministers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet began whetting their political knives after a deal which was reportedly agreed by the premier and his defence minister, with other security cabinet ministers only updated by phone.

News of the agreement first emerged from the West Bank city of Ramallah where a Palestinian official told AFP an elusive deal had been reached over a "durable" halt to the bloodshed.

He said the deal involved a "permanent ceasefire" and an end to Israel's eight-year blockade of Gaza, in a move hailed by Hamas as a "victory for the resistance".

Ending the blockade had been a key Palestinian demand in earlier, abortive truce talks in Cairo.

"The Egyptian initiative (includes) an opening of the crossings for goods and humanitarian and food aid to enter Gaza, as well as medical supplies and materials to repair the water, electricity and mobile phone networks," chief Palestinian truce negotiator Azzam al-Ahmed told AFP.

Restrictions on fishing would end "immediately" with boats allowed to fish up to six miles offshore with the limit later extended to 12 miles, he said.

At a later, unspecified date, the two sides would discuss "the exchange of (Palestinian) prisoners and of the bodies of those (Israeli soldiers) killed" during the conflict, he said.

Israel confirmed the negotiating teams would return to Cairo "within a month", without saying when.

"We have accepted, once again, an Egyptian proposal for an unconditional and unlimited-in-time ceasefire," a senior official said.

"The framework includes an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and then, inside a month, both delegations will be in Cairo raising issues with the Egyptians," he said.

"We will be raising our concerns about demilitarisation and preventing Hamas from rearming."

During the celebrations several senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad figures emerged onto the streets for the first time since the war began, having feared assassination by Israel, which had labelled them "legitimate targets".

As well as rebuilding the battered enclave, senior Hamas official Mahmud al-Zahar said the Islamist movement would continue "arming itself and developing its resistance capacity".

Egypt's foreign ministry said the two sides had agreed to the "simultaneous opening of the border crossings between Israel and Gaza to enable the rapid entry of humanitarian aid and relief and reconstruction supplies".

And the statement referred to a "continuation of indirect negotiations between the two sides on other matters within one month of the ceasefire taking effect."

News of the reported deal came after weeks of Egyptian-led efforts to end the violence which resulted in several short-term ceasefires, all of which broke down in the absence of agreement on a longer-term truce.

The latest collapsed on August 19 as hostilities resumed, killing more than 120 Palestinians and two Israelis, one a four-year-old child.

There had been no sign of any letup in the fighting earlier on Tuesday, with 12 Palestinians killed in Israeli air strikes and tank shelling, among them two children.

Source: ucanews.com

Blind lead the blind for light of vision

Since October 2013, Project Vision has been active and around 10,000 persons have been motivated to pledge their eyes.

Bangalore:  Some 600 people, all of the blind folded, march through the streets of Bangalore on Sunday in what is billed as "world's first ever Blind Walk" aiming to popularize the need of eye donation in the country.

Some 100 blind people led the blindfolded men and women, mostly young, as they walked highlighting the cause of the visually handicapped. While the blind walked confidently, with the help of their walking sticks, the blindfolded volunteers were seen stumbling.

Organizers, a Church group led by Claretion Father George Kannanthanam, plans similar walks over the next two Sundays in the city.

Project Vision, which organized program with other groups including Amway India Enterprise, aims to spread awareness on blindness and to educate the public on avenues of pledging one's eyes. More than 100 organisations were represented at the walk.

The startling figures of blindness in India prompted Father Kannanthanam, Director of the Project Vision to initiate an innovative way of reaching out to the public to draw their attention to the blind in India and inform them of avenues to pledge their eyes.

"One of the things that should make us think as a nation is the fact that more than one third of the world's blind persons are in our country. The number is quite shocking: 15 million out of the 39 million," the priest said.

He said this "shocking figure touched a few of us" and 50 of them joined with objectives: "to make eye donation a norm in the society and to create opportunities for the permanently blind to live a decent life".

"While eye donation can bring light to over three million blind persons, the other 80% can live better through various facilities that could be created for them. We have committed ourselves to make Bangalore the Eye Donation Capital of the World.” he added.

One of the objectives of Project vision is to make eye donation process easy and effective.

Since October 2013, Project Vision has been active and around 10,000 persons have been motivated to pledge their eyes.

All the major religions of the world support the principles of organ donation and transplantation.

However, within each religion there is a different school of thought, which means that views may differ, the Project Vision has been engaged with faith leaders across religions to raise awareness of organ donation and transplantation, the priest said.

Press Release

Communion wine controversy as Kerala bans alcohol

Archbishop vows Communion 'will remain unchanged until the world ends'.

Thiruvananthapuram:  Disgareements have arisen between Church leaders in Kerala over the use of Communion wine, as the state prepares to impose a ban on alcohol consumption.

“Churches should think about using grape water, as had been the practice in the past, instead of wine," Bishop Philiphose Mar Chrysostom of the indigenous Mar Thoma Syrian Church told ucanews.com yesterday.

Unlike Catholic Church, his faith does not believe that the bread and wine offered at Mass turn to the body and blood of Christ, but are merely symbols of the sacrament.

But Latin Rite Catholic Archbishop Francis Kallarackal of Verapoly said Christians would not be able "to think of the Holy Mass without bread and wine”.

The use of bread and wine as the body and blood of Jesus "will remain unchanged until the world ends," he said.

Fr Paul Thelakkat, spokesman for the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in Kerala dismissed the controversy, saying the ban would have no impact on the way the Church dispenses the sacraments.

"Every faith has its own traditions and practices. Using wine at Mass is a global practice. Its use is minimum and based on a faith. Combining the liquor ban and Mass wine issue together is an attempt communalize the issue by dragging in the Church," Father Thelakkat told ucanews.com.

Kerala authorities last week announced a plan to phase out alcohol sales over a 10-year period. Beginning next year, bar licenses will only be issued to five-star hotels, while many of the state’s 720 bars and restaurants will not have their licenses renewed.

The debate has now extended outside Church circles. Vellapally Natesan, general secretary of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, a Hindu political group, demanded the government cancel 23 licenses issued to Catholic dioceses, religious orders and other Christian groups to produce Mass wine.

"All are equal before law. If the government has decided to issue no licenses for liquor manufacturing, sale or use, then the Catholic Church cannot be an exception," he told ucanews.com on Wednesday.

Shortly after the ban was announced, Natesan told local media, "Jesus turned water into wine. Today, nobody has the power to convert water into wine. Then why don't churches use water and consider it as wine?" He also alleged that some churches were selling Mass wine, in violation of Indian law.

"I know that even the churches are selling wine for a price. They are not supposed to sell Mass wine. But no action was taken against them,” he said.

Anil Xavier, state excise commissioner, told ucanews.com that licenses were issued to Church organizations under the Cochin Mass Wine Act that permits the license holder to make wine that is used for Mass.

"It is not meant for sale and the license holders must pay a tax of three Indian rupees [5 US cents] per liter produced in their winery," he said.

Source: ucanews.com

Saint Fiaker Prince of Scotland and Anchorite († 670)

Saint Fiaker

Prince of Scotland and Anchorite
(† 670)

Saint Fiaker

Saint Fiaker was the eldest son of Eugene IV, king of Scotland, born in the early sixth century heir to the throne of Scotland. He was educated under the care of a bishop of eminent sanctity, Conan, Bishop of Soder or the Western Islands.

Considering all worldly advantages as dross, the young prince, accompanied by his sister, left country and friends when in the flower of his age, and sailed to France. The prince intended to seek a solitude to which they might retire and devote themselves to God, unknown to the rest of the world. Divine Providence conducted them to Saint Faro, Bishop of Meaux, eminent for his sanctity. When Saint Fiaker addressed himself to him, the prelate, charmed with the marks of extraordinary virtue and abilities which he discerned in this stranger, gave him a solitary dwelling in a forest called Breuil, two leagues from Meaux. He placed the princess Sira in the Faremoutier monastery for women, of which his own sister was Abbess, and in that convent the young Christian found the enduring peace of Christ.

The holy anchorite Fiaker cleared the ground of trees and briers, made himself a cell and cultivated a small garden. He built an oratory in honor of the Blessed Virgin, where he spent the greater part of the days and nights in devout prayer, laboring also with his own hands for his subsistence. The life he led was very austere, and only necessity or charity ever interrupted his exercises of prayer and heavenly contemplation.

Many resorted to him for advice, and the poor sought relief at his door. Saint Chillen, or Kilian, an Irishman of high birth, on his return from Rome visited Saint Fiaker, who was his kinsman. After spending some time under his discipline, this other budding Saint was directed by Fiaker's advice and with the authority of the bishops, to preach in the nearby dioceses as well as in that of Saint Faro. This commission he executed with admirable sanctity and fruit, and his relics were later placed in the same coffer as those of his eminent relative, the saintly hermit. Saint Fiaker died in the year 670, on the 30^th of August; he is the patron of gardeners.